Fehr, Arthur, 1904-1969

Arthur Fehr graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture in 1925. He continued his education, studying in graduate programs at Columbia University, New York University, and the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York City. Before returning to Austin, Fehr worked with Kenneth Murchison in New York and Harvey Smith in San Antonio. In the 1930’s, he worked for the National Park Service on the Bastrop State Park Project in Bastrop, Texas, where he met Charles T. Granger, another Austin native and University of Texas graduate.

Charles Granger was born in Austin in 1913. During college, he met Fehr while working as a draftsman for the National Park Service at Bastrop State Park, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas (Austin) in 1936 and moved to Los Angeles to work with Richard Neutra after graduation. In 1938, he returned to Austin to join Arthur Fehr's architectural firm. During World War II, when commissions decreased, Granger attended Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield, Michigan and received his master's degree in 1946. While in Michigan he was introduced to the International Style as exhibited in the work of Eliel Saarinen who was teaching at Cranbrook. He worked with the firm Saarinen and Swanson before returning to Austin to reopen Fehr and Granger in 1946.

Fehr and Granger flourished after the war, winning local and national recognition for projects such as the Sneed residence (1953) in Austin, O. Henry Junior High School (1954) in Austin, Saint Stephen's Chapel (1955) in Austin, and Clifton Hall at Texas Lutheran College (1956) in Seguin, Texas. Fehr and Granger were published in Progressive Architecture in 1958 and they were honored with two awards from the journal in 1959. Their Robert Mueller Airport in Austin, Texas received a Design Award in 1959 and another award in 1961. In 1959, the Hillview Unit for Brown Schools, Inc. in San Marcos, Texas received an Educational Award Citation.

Charles Granger was killed in an automobile accident in 1966 shortly after becoming a fellow to the American Institute of Architects. Arthur Fehr continued to practice under the firm name Fehr and Granger until his death in 1969.